We Have to What?
by crystaltambaia
Summary: Lily and James are told by Dumbledore that in order to be Head Boy and Girl in their seventh year at Hogwarts, they have to learn to live together! In a two room flat! Chaos ensues…
1. Introduction

**We Have to What?**

**-A Fanfiction By Crystaltambaia**

**Summary: **Lily and James are told by Dumbledore that in order to be Head Boy and Girl in their seventh year at Hogwarts, they have to learn to live together! In a two room flat! Chaos ensues…

**Rated: PG-13**, although might be R, depending on how I want the story to go. Plus, what's a good living-together fic without some dirtiness? Lol…

**Disclaimer: **I feel kind of guilty that I never put one up, so here it is. I don't own anything you recognize. I do own Podis Bagmore.

**A/N: **I know, I know. This idea has been used thousands of times, but you know what? That's because this idea is so fun! All my other fics are serious, so this one's going to be less so…and maybe, this time, I will decide not to stick entirely to canon!

And to my other readers of other fics of mine: don't scream. It was a plot bunny! I promise I can keep up four fics! Plus, one of them is almost finished!

* * *

The day dawned, bright and sunny, and Lily Evans, witch extraordinaire, woke up with a yawn and a stretch. She blinked, and glanced out the shades in her room, starting suddenly when she realized that she was to have a meeting with Dumbledore today.

It was still summertime, and the seventeen-year-old had recently acquired her apparition license. The day before, she had received her school letter, and was overjoyed to find that she had been made Head Girl.

However, along with that notice was the summons from Dumbledore. She was still wondering what exactly it could mean while she put on a white tank top and shorts, looked at herself in the mirror, and changed again.

She sighed. Whatever people otherwise thought of her, she was a total and absolute _girl._ She might look like she studied hard, but she had stepped in the Hogwart's library all of four times last year. Mostly, she got her best friend, Alice, to fetch her stuff if she needed it.

She just had a problem; she didn't feel like she had accomplished enough if she didn't finish and ace all of her homework. She hated herself for it, and balanced that out by planning lots of pranks. Most of the time, she was too busy to carry them out, but when she did, they were incredible!

Thinking of pranks made her think of a certain group of Gryffindor boys, and she frowned. In order to not get into trouble for the pranks that she _did_ do, she credited it to those boys, and it gave them egos that even Podis Bagmore, the world's number one quidditch player, would have trouble competing with.

To give them credit, the boys were smart, just incredibly annoying and conceited. Well, two of them were conceited. Remus Lupin was nice, if a little lax in disciplining his friends, and Peter Pettigrew was just, well, there.

Sometimes she wondered why the other boys even put up with him. She knew she couldn't.

By the time she was finished with all of this thinking, she had picked out and discarded four more outfits, finally settling with the white crop top and shorts she had picked out first.

She apparated downstairs and walked towards the door, picking up her purse from its perch on the stairs, and called to her mum,

"Bye mum!"

"Where are you going, dear?" her mum called from the kitchen.

Lily rolled her eyes. Sometimes her mother was too curious for her own good. "School stuff. I'll get my stuff at Diagon Alley too, and I'll be back tonight sometime!"

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you? Petty's staying with her fiancé for the week."

"_No_, mum," Lily replied emphatically. "I'll be fine!"

With that, she disapparated.

* * *

James Potter's morning was very different.

He had been woken at five o clock in the morning by a screeching owl, then promptly tripped and fell down two flights of stairs in order to shut the owl up.

He now had a black eye, and a bloody nose, and he was supposed to meet with Dumbledore in a half an hour. Unfortunately, the only time he could get his apparition license was next week, so he had to take the train to the Leaky Cauldron.

His mum had _said_ that she would drive him.

She wasn't awake yet.

He had even thrown a bucket of ice cold water over her head, like in those movies that his muggle friends were always taking about, but all he had accomplished was a soaking wet bed, and, when she finally got up, a very angry mother.

He went back downstairs after yet again attempting to wake up him mother and grabbed an ice pack out of the refrigerator. He walked over to the mirror and slapped the ice on his black eye, squinting with his other eye at the mirror.

"You don't look in good shape, m'dear. Have a run-in with that nasty broom cupboard again?"

The mirror's voice caused James to jump, even though that mirror had been in the same place, saying the same unhelpful things for all of his seventeen years of life.

"Shut up," he said, yawning.

The mirror didn't answer. With a last futile attempt to flatten his hair, he looked at the clock.

Fifteen minutes.

Great.

Well, he thought, time for some drastic action. He went to the drawers where his mum kept her purse and stuff, and drew out her wallet.

He knew he was breaking several laws doing this, but he had never let Dumbledore down before. Well, not in ways that really count in the real world, he thought ruefully.

He quickly cast a charm on his mother's old and raggedy driver's license, making it show his picture instead. He grimaced when he looked at it, wishing that he was better at charms so he could make it better.

_James Potter_

_Age: 23_

_Eyes: Hazel_

_Hair: Dark Brown/Black_

_Height: 5'11"_

He just had to hope that he wasn't stopped, because he definitely wasn't twenty three years old.

The keys were lying on the kitchen table so he grabbed them and left.

* * *

Where _was_ he?

Lily had been informed when she arrived that James Potter was to be joining them shortly. She hoped that it didn't mean he'd been made Head Boy, although, Dumbledore's refusal to answer that question made the answer obvious enough.

Lily was pacing around the small room in the Leaky Cauldron, steaming.

Dumbledore, on the other hand, looked perfectly calm. He had a slight smile on his face, and he was reclining in an armchair. Lily stopped in front of him suddenly.

"How can you be so _calm_?" she hissed, then sobered. "Sorry, I didn't mean—"

"It's quite alright, Miss Evans," he said calmly. "I sometimes find that gripping things hard helps deal with frustration."

Lily looked down at his hands, and to her surprise, found that his knuckles were white with gripping the armchair.

She smiled slightly.

Maybe it wasn't so bad...

* * *

A horn sounded and tires screeched. James grimaced, but kept going, determined to make it to London on time.

Unfortunately, he wasn't sure that he was anywhere nearer London than he had been when he set out, and perhaps he was further away.

A siren sounded behind him, and he attempted to bring the car to a stop. He hadn't reckoned on a slippery patch of road which caused his car to skid out of control.

It caught the edge of the road and flipped, causing James to hit his head very roughly on the side of the window.

A tap on the window caused him to look up, and he blinked stars out of his vision.

"All right there mate?" asked the officer.

"Yeah, yeah I think so," said James vaguely, but the officer frowned.

"I fink we better go on up to the 'ospital. They can check you out."

James didn't have the strength to argue, as he felt himself fading in and out of consciousness.

* * *

He woke up sometime later in a white hospital room.

Sitting up quickly, he tried to shove himself out of the bed, but gentle hands suddenly pushed him back down.

"Calm down, sir," a light female voice said. James looked up, squinting, realizing that perhaps the reason why he had crashed the car was that he had completely forgotten to put on his glasses that morning.

"No," he said, pushing back. "I have to get out of here. Have a meeting—"

"Now, now dear," the nurse said, interrupting, "I'm sure whoever you're meeting will understand."

Thinking of Dumbledore, he agreed, and let himself fall back onto the pillows.

* * *

"You _what_?" shouted Lily Evans, causing James Potter to cringe.

"I got in a car accident," he mumbled.

"Oh, of all the stupid things…"

"Well, at least I'm not a know-it-all bitch," countered James, saying the first insult that came to his head. Somehow, he thought that it wasn't the smartest insult to tell a girl with a volcanic temper.

"_What_ did you just call me?" she breathed furiously, eyes narrowing.

Without knowing why, James felt his cheeks flushing at the redhead's anger. In fifth year, he had had an overwhelming crush on her, but it had sort of died out once James had realized what an incredible prat he had been to her.

Maybe the feelings never went away? James thought, but then he snapped back to reality when he heard Dumbledore finally interrupting their arguments.

"Well, as you two probably know, after careful deliberation and thought, you were made Head Boy and Girl of Hogwarts. Now—"

Dumbledore was interrupted by a shout.

"What?" It was Lily. "That—that _thing_ was made Head Boy?"

James cringed at Lily's anger. Apparently, even though _his_ feelings had disappeared – probably — hers evidently had not.

"As I was saying," said Dumbledore, causing both James and Lily to look back towards him, "Even thought you two have been made Head Boy and Girl, you have not been known to get along splendidly in the past."

Here, Lily snorted.

"Anyway, the teachers and I have decided to help you along with that little – issue of yours by having you two live together for the rest of the summer."

Now, the room was full of shouts of protests, not just from Lily, but from James as well.

"You can't—"

"It's not fair—"

"I'd rather die—"

"You'd rather die? I'd rather kill _myself_ than put up with _that_ for an entire summer!" That was Lily, but at a look from Dumbledore, both teenagers fell silent, red with embarrassment.

"Unfortunately, since it is so far into the summer, all I could find for you was a small two room flat in the city. The good news is that it's practically next to Diagon Alley." Shouts of protest filled the room again until Dumbledore held up a hand. "We – the teachers and I – felt that it was best for you two to have a productive a seventh year as possible, given the current conditions. Naturally, either of you can refuse, but that would mean giving up your head position." He paused, waiting for their responses.

They each agreed, but for different reasons.

"Yes, I'll do it," said Lily. _'I won't give up this position to have some other seventh year girl lording it over me,'_ she thought.

"Yeah, fine," said James. _'She's an interesting person. And cute too. If only she wasn't so horribly mean!'_

"Brilliant," Dumbledore said, then got up, brushing off his robes. "Now, if you two will just follow my directions, we can be there in no time. I have connected this flat to the floo network, so any problems you have James, you can get places fast."

James flushed. He didn't want Lily to know that he couldn't apparate, although he supposed that she might have guessed by the fact that he chose to drive to the meeting.

* * *

A few minutes later, and they were there.

"This is it?" asked Lily, incredulously.

It was a tiny, unassuming little building, and didn't look like it could fit _one_ two-room flat, let alone seven.

"Yes," said Dumbledore. "I think, however, once you get inside to your flat, it will be much more to your liking. I took the liberty of splitting up the bedroom into two separate rooms, so you will each have your own private area."

Lily nodded dumbly, not trusting her voice to say anything other than insults, she was so angry.

"Well," said Dumbledore cheerfully, turning towards the two teenagers. "Here are your keys, and I hope you enjoy your stay."

With that, he disapparated.

James and Lily looked at each other, disgust on each of their faces, and sat down on the side of the street.

* * *

A/N: Wow, that was a very long chapter for me! I have trouble writing long chapters! Be warned, however, that this isn't usual for me, so don't go expecting really long chapters in later chapters.

Please review!

Tell your friends to review!

Tell your aunt's grandmother's niece's nephew twice removed on your mother's side to review!

Thanks!

-Crystaltambaia


	2. Moving In!

**We Have to What?**

**Chapter Two**

**Moving In!**

**Summary: **Lily and James are told by Dumbledore that in order to be Head Boy and Girl in their seventh year at Hogwarts, they have to learn to live together! In a two room flat! Chaos ensues…

**Rated: PG-13**, although might be R, depending on how I want the story to go. Plus, what's a good living-together fic without some dirtiness? Lol…

**Disclaimer: **I feel kind of guilty that I never put one up, so here it is. I don't own anything you recognize. I do own Podis Bagmore.

**A/N: **Thank you so so so so much for all of your reviews!Eight reviews for the first chapter of a story! That's incredible (for me!). Anyway, responses are at the end of the chapter. Enjoy.

* * *

Finally, after several minutes of just sitting in the street in despair, both Lily and James decided that the best thing to do would be to settle in and notify both of their respective families of their whereabouts.

James got to the front door first, but paused suddenly.

"Uh, we don't know what flat number we are."

Lily pushed past him, rolling her eyes.

"Haven't you ever stayed at a flat before? There are names to the side of the front door, with ringers up to the flats. Each one has a name." She walked up the steps and looked to her left.

"See?" she pointed at something on the door. "_Miss Lily Evans and Mr. James Potter: Flat 4b"_

"What does that mean?" asked James stupidly.

Lily cried in disgust, "Really? Have you ever lived outside of your twenty bedroom mansion?"

"It only has sixteen bedrooms," muttered James under his breath.

"What?" asked Lily, shocked. "I was only kidding! You really have sixteen bedrooms in your house?"

"Yeah," he said, turning red.

"Well, why couldn't Dumbledore have sectioned off part of your house and have us live there? It sounds like it's big enough to be its own country!"

"You shut up about my house!" exclaimed James, not realizing until too late that he was letting his temper get the better of him.

"I wasn't attacking your house!" said Lily shrilly. "I was merely exclaiming on the fact that you have been so spoilt throughout your entire life that you don't even know how to find your own flat!"

"Let's just go in," said James sensibly, sensing that if they stayed outside much longer, there would be hell to pay.

"Whatever," mumbled Lily.

* * *

"This is _it_?" exclaimed Lily when they entered the flat.

"And you're the one that was brought up like this?" asked James meanly.

"Well, not quite like _this_," she said soberly.

"Looks we're both spoilt brats then," he responded.

Lily ignored his last comment and instead, looked around at the shabby flat. It was so small that it could hardly be called two roomed, with the kitchen, living room, hallway and bedrooms all packed into one room, the bedroom separated with sheets. A tiny toilet constituted the second "room." And it was hardly private.

"Well," she said, sighing, "we should at least be grateful that Dumbledore separated the bedroom into two sections. We won't have to sleep together. I call the one with the best bed," Lily said, then raced into the bedroom.

James stood outside, not following for a minute. He was thinking about some things. 'I hope that I don't fall in love with her or anything. That would be awkward.' Unfortunately for him, feelings from fifth year had been resurfacing all afternoon, and he couldn't avoid the fact that Lily, while temperamental, was strikingly beautiful. With a resigned shrug, he walked in on Lily, and almost went back on his word not to fall in love with her.

She was lying on a large white bed, laughing. And it wasn't a fake laugh; the smile went to her eyes, and they were twinkling. He wondered why she was so happy about the room; it wasn't anything special. He stood stock still, then turned away shyly.

"I take it you have this room," he said gruffly.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, "It's just perfect. Yours," she pointed to another hung sheet, "is a little bit more private, but much smaller."

"Right," he said, and ducked through the sheet. Only once he had gone through did James realize the implications of the sleeping arrangements. He would have to go through Lily's room to get to the rest of the house! What if he walked in on her dressing!

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. 'You can't even talk to her for one minute without going stark raving mad, and you think you're in love with this girl?' he asked himself. Smiling, he realized he was just being stupid, and prepared to put his stuff in his room. The stuff had coincidently arrived just as they had.

Suddenly, Lily opened the sheet door to his room.

"Yes Evans?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

"If you want to eat around here, you're going to have to work, because I'm certainly not cooking for you!"

"Alright," he said, then groaned when he got up. 'I'm such an old man,' he thought to himself.

* * *

Two hours later, all they had accomplished was a livid Lily, a large mess and James, sitting smack in the middle, with a rueful expression on his face.

"What do you _mean_ you couldn't find the top to the mixer?" she asked incredulously.

" I couldn't find it. I thought that a saucepan top would do the same job!" James argued defensively.

"Not if you let go of it!"

"Well, you can let a normal mixer top go!"

"That's because it _fits_. It comes with the mixer, and you are _supposed_ to be able to let it go!"

"Well, how was I supposed to know that!"

"Use your head, Potter."

"I didn't think you thought I had a head," retorted James.

"You do have a head, but I've just never seen you use it except to torture little children at school!"

"Oh, so you admit that I'm smart?" asked James, enjoying the torture of Lily, but also feeling a little put out that he couldn't make a small mistake once in a while. After all, he had only made a half batch of the sauce, and therefore it meant that there were only two eggs on the ceiling, instead of four.

"No!" said Lily, stamping her foot. "Ugh! How am I going to live with you for a month?"

"Simple," said James grinning, and sidling over to Lily. "I'll seduce you." He put a hand out to her arm and slowly stroked it, delighting in her shiver. "And then, you'll fall in love with me." He stepped towards her, and smiled inwardly when she stared openly at him.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain on his face, and he had fallen on the floor, straight into the blender mess. He looked up in shock; Lily had slapped him! She was incredible angry.

"You're such a heartless, stupid, awful, immature—" she stopped unable to think of anything else.

James decided that, although he was prone on the floor, he could afford to torture her a little more. "Hot? Sexy? Beautiful? Intelligent? Lovely?"

Lily fled, tears in her eyes.

James grinned. He had accomplished his goal for today.

* * *

**A/N**: Okay, much shorter, but it's a chapter, and it's out pretty quickly. Sorry to my other stories, I will catch up with you soon! And I'm also sorry if this chapter was a little boring. It'll start to get exciting in the next few chapters.

Responses:

**Danish Dizzi D** : Thanks so much! It's always awesome to get a new reviewer! And if you want, you could always read some of my other fics too! (hint, hint)

**XXX** : Thanks. And yes, it is key to update often. Unfortunately, it always takes me so darn long even to write one chapter that's two pages long!

**Apotterlover**: Thanks! And I'm updating this second chapter soon, if not later ones (I always have more inspiration when starting a new fic!)

**Tikvah Ariel**: It's cool you have a personal code like that. I doubt that I will change to R, just because I don't think that it would be that good if I did, but it was just a precaution, so that people would be warned. And as for the canon part: Yeah, I didn't want to make this be totally canon, just because all of my other stories are. I mentioned that James like Lily in fifth year, which is canon, but I also said that it sort of faded away, which isn't. Thanks for your review, I always like ones that are more than "Grt fic ", which is not very helpful, although nice.

**Nebulia**: Thanks! It's awesome that I already have you hooked, even with the first chappie!

**Lady of Masbolle**: Wow, you always review my fics with dedication! And they are always so positive! I love reviewers like that!

**Evil Pillow**: I will!

**Moonshine 44**: Thanks! I hope you think it's still great!

Wow…I got tons of reviews for the first chapter! Maybe this fic is actually somewhat good!

Please review!

And, if you get some extra time, you could go ahead and read my other fics (I have two other Lily/James).

Thanks so much!

Crystaltambaia


	3. Assignment Number One

**We Have to What?**

**Chapter 3**

**Assignment Number One**

**Summary: **Lily and James are told by Dumbledore that in order to be Head Boy and Girl in their seventh year at Hogwarts, they have to learn to live together! In a two room flat! Chaos ensues…

**Rated: PG-13**, although might be R, depending on how I want the story to go. Plus, what's a good living-together fic without some dirtiness? Lol…

**Disclaimer: **I feel kind of guilty that I never put one up, so here it is. I don't own anything you recognize. I do own Podis Bagmore.

**A/N**: Well, this fic is about to start getting interesting! Also, I apologize to **Coco-Pop** for not responding to your review last chapter; I didn't realize that you had reviewed until after I had posted chapter two. I'll respond below… Eesh…I also apologize to those of you who want to have a new chapter from my other stories. I'll get back to them, I promise!

* * *

James yawned and stretched, a wide grin on his face. 

Then he remembered where he was, and groaned.

He was tucked into a corner of a tiny bed, covered in sweat. He hadn't wanted to take his shirt off when going to bed for fear that Lily would see and think that he was trying to seduce her.

Well, in a way, he was.

Sighing, he pushed himself up out of the covers and stretched again. He got up out of the bed and padded towards the sheet seperator. Still half asleep, he pushed it open, then stopped dead.

Lily was changing! She had her shirt halfway off, so he could see her perfect stomach. When it was all the way up, she looked up and saw James standing there, staring at her.

"Potter! What are you doing?" she yelled, face already going red, shirt still off.

"Umm...I was just getting up. Am I not allowed to do that?" He saw her getting more angry and grinned. Somehow, he knew exactly how to torture her.

"Yes! I mean, no! You need to knock first! I might not've had any clothes on!"

"And that would be bad? Besides," he added hastily before she could start shouting again, "The room is separated by a sheet. How'm I supposed to knock on that?" James knew perfectly well that he could just knock on the wall, but the pleasure of seeing Evans angry defeated his sense of honor.

"You could just...aargh," she finished, stomping into the kitchen.

She hadn't remembered to put her shirt back on.

James smiled to himself, then followed.

"Lily," he called, then stopped when he saw that she was reading something. "What's that?"

"Letter from Dumbledore. That old git."

"Hey," James said, frowning, "don't insult the best headmaster that Hogwarts has ever had."

"How would you know if he's the best? You've never met any of the other have you?"

"Actually..." began James, "I have."

"How?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because I do!"

James decided it was time to remind her of her shirtlessness, even though her bra _was _very pretty, and he could spend all day looking at her perfect figure. "You don't sound very serious without a shirt on."

"Wha? Oh no!" she moaned, then ran into her room. James chuckled to himself, then went over to the table where the letter was lying and picked it up. It was addressed to Lily Evans and James Potter, so he figured he had just as much right to read it as she did.

_Dear Lily and James,_

_How are you adjusting to your life in the flat? I apologize that I could not get a bigger one for the both of you to share. I must inform you that as well as living together, you will both be required to complete several tasks. If they are not completed, your Headships will be revoked. The first task is outlined below._

_Task Number One_

_1.) Go into London._

_2.) James, pick out a dress for Lily to wear. Lily, pick out a suit for James._

_3.) Go to this address at seven o clock this evening: 54 Homefield Road, Wimbledon, London. SW19 4QE. There is a dinner party there. You will be known as Mr. and Mrs. Potter for the evening. You may know the host._

_4.) If you argue, a spell will be put on you, bringing you closer together. For example, after arguing once, you will not be able to move more than fifty feet from one another. Twice, and you will not be able to move twenty five feet from one another._

_In order to become Head Boy and Girl, you both need to learn to get along. This is the first step in that direction. Good luck!_

_Albus Dumbledore_

James read the letter, disgust registering on his every sentence. He reread it three times, trying to figure out a way to still be Head Boy, but not have to complete the task. So enthralled was he that he did not realize when Lily came back into the room.

"What does the letter say Potter?" she asked, causing James to jump.

"Uuhh...well, perhaps you want to read it yourself? I need to take a shower." He ran over to the tiny loo and locked himself inside.

Then he realized that there was no shower, and he had left his wand in his bedroom.

"Damn," he said, and unlocked the door as quietly as he could, trying not to disturb Lily in case she blew up at his. He made it as far as the entrance to her room before she realized he was there.

"Potter! What is the meaning of this? Is this some sort of prank you've pulled on me, making me do this?"

"What? No! What makes you think that I want to spend the rest of my summer in this stupid flat with you?"

"Because...because...you have a crush on me!"

"Why would I ever like someone like you?" roared James, "you are pig-headed and self-centered and you think that you're so much better than the rest of the world!"

Suddenly, a light breeze flew around them, and James took an involuntary step forward.

"What was that?" asked Lily. James shrugged, not quite sure himself. He looked up, and to his surprise, saw a piece of paper floating down from the ceiling.

"Look!" said Lily. "It has writing on it!"

* * *

**A/N**: AAHHH...really short! But I promise the next one will be longer...I know what's going to happen and everything! I just really needed to get a chapter out for all you incredibly patient people...

**Responses**:

**Coco-pop**: Thanks! Well, it's a cool storyline, but also waaayyy overdone…Hope you keep liking it!

**Tikvah Ariel**: Thanks so much! And I always love constructive criticism, etc., so I almost never get mad at reviewers, except when I know that they are completely and utterly over the top. Yeah, Lily's off her rocker…what can you expect? Plus, if she wasn't crazy, she would be boring!

**LaBOBuren**: No, I won't update every day…as is clear by the wait for this chapter, but I'll update as soon as I possibly can all the time. And it's good that you're so enthusiastic!

**Stinkypillow**: okay!

**Fergie2**: Actually, I wasn't thinking of POTC when I wrote that, but when I read it again, I realized that I probably subconsciously did get it from the movie. I love that movie too! Although, I still haven't convinced my mom to buy it for me!

**Julie**: Thanks!

**xblackmoonx**: He has a plan? Well, he sort of does. He finds Lily attractive, but he can't decide whether he likes her or can't stand her. Plus, he loves torturing her, if you couldn't tell.

**Alenor**: that's cool that it's the first one you're reading, except for the time-turner ones. For me, the time-turner ones have to be really well written, otherwise they are utterly ridiculous…but they're fun all the same!

**Lady of Masbolle:** Choir camp! Yay! I sing too. We had a workshop yesterday, but it was only three hours…Thanks for you review!

**Nebulia**: Yeah, I like James' character, it's fun to write. And I'm glad that I have you hooked again…(when were you unhooked?)

**Coco-pop**: again…lol, this is for your CH.2 review. Yeah, I liked the blender bit. Sometimes the basic blender top off storyline is very funny.

**apotterlover**: I hope I don't lose the inspiration either! Thanks!

**Red-rose-with-a-touch-of-dew**: Thanks! Yeah, as you can see by reading the chapter, it was the next day. And more romancy stuff should start happening soon :-P

**Sheyana**: thanks! And I hope this causes you to wander more into the realm of HP. I like your stories.

**Moonshine44:** Thanks! And I'll try to update as often as possible.

Phew! The replies were probably longer than the chapter itself! I feel so amazed that so many people have reviewed, and you all like my story so much.

**PS**: If anyone has GREAT ideas for assignments, please let me know in your review!

Crystaltambaia


	4. Assignment One Continued

**We Have to What**

**Chapter Four**

**Assignment One continued**

**Summary: **Lily and James are told by Dumbledore that in order to be Head Boy and Girl in their seventh year at Hogwarts, they have to learn to live together! In a two room flat! Chaos ensues…

**Rated: PG-13**, although might be R, depending on how I want the story to go. Plus, what's a good living-together fic without some dirtiness? Lol…

**Disclaimer: **I feel kind of guilty that I never put one up, so here it is. I don't own anything you recognize. I do own Podis Bagmore.

**A/N**: Sorry it has taken me so long to write another chapter for this! But you all know how busy life is. All your suggestions for assignments were great! If you have anymore, please tell me in the review, and when I use someone's idea, I will credit them here. Thanks again for all of your extremely supportive reviews! Replies are at the end of the chappie.

* * *

_Dearest Mr. Potter and Miss Evans_

_Please accept my deepest regrets that the both of you could not get along for more than five minutes after receiving my warning. (See letter sent ten minutes ago.) Unfortunately, it seems that I failed to mention that section 4 (four) of the letter commenced upon arrival of said letter. From now until further notice, neither of you will be able to move fifty feet from each other._

_Best wishes,_

_Albus Dumbledore._

"Damn it!" shouted the normally taciturn Lily, making James jump.

"You started it," said James.

"No I didn't!"

James did not deign to answer, and instead turned to the problem of the lack of shower. After thinking hard for a few minutes and ducking a few objects Lily threw at him, he smacked his head.

How could he be so stupid? He was a wizard! He could use a wand. Well, actually, he couldn't, but Lily could.

"Oh, Lily dearest?" James asked in a sickeningly sweet tone?

"What?" she snapped, not realizing that James had just called her 'dear'.

"Do you think you could do a spot of magic for me?"

"Why?" she asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes.

"I need to take a shower. Besides," he added, "if we keep arguing, you're going to have to deal with a lot of body odor if you don't make me a shower."

"I-I-oh okay," she said sighing. "Where d'you want it?"

Twenty five minutes later, and tempers were rising.

"Why weren't you born until next week?" moaned Lily.

"I don't know! That was my parents' decision!" retorted James.

"I did not need to know that!"

"You were the one who asked. And anyway, you're the one who sucks so much as transfiguration she can't even make shower curtains, let alone an entire shower!" James felt his face going red.

Suddenly, there was yet another of those mysterious winds, and James and Lily both groaned in unison.

As expected, a letter dropped from the air. Lily reached out to get it, and quickly scanned the writing.

"It's basically the same, but now you can't be more than twenty five feet from me. How will I survive?"

James rolled his eyes at Lily's childishness. Really, twenty five feet was a perfectly large distance. Especially when it was with a rather attractive young female…

* * *

"Why do we have to go to the ladies' lingerie department?" whined James sometime that afternoon. "I thought all I had to do was pick out a dress."

"You do," snapped Lily, "but I happen to need a bra, and its right next to the dress department."

"If we hadn't argued earlier, I wouldn't even have to be here."

"Yes you would have. Now help me look…I need a pretty one, just in case the straps show on the dress, and it can't be padded; padding makes me look stupid."

James wandered around the ladies' lingerie, looking for something to give Lily to make her happy, with a large frown on his face. Suddenly, his eyes lit on something, and he grabbed it.

"Perfect," he said to himself, grinning.

"What is this Potter?" shouted Lily, red faced and livid, once James had found her.

"What?" he said innocently.

"I am NOT a fifty six year old, 115 kilo woman. I am seventeen, and no, I am not telling you how much I weigh!"

James put on a face of pretend sadness when he heard that. "Pity. Anyway, I dunno what the big deal is with girls telling people how much they weigh. Guys don't care at all."

"Well, I do, and I would appreciate it if you would try to be helpful, instead of getting enormous grey lacy bras."

"Right," he said, realizing his moment of fun was over, at least for a time, and resigning himself to several more hours of complete boredom.

* * *

Finally, after what seemed like years, they moved on to the dress department.

"Okay Potter, you're free. Find me something that's not too degrading to the female species."

James whooped, then rushed off, only to come careening back to Lily in a matter of seconds.

"I need to know your size."

"What?" gasped Lily, then remembered. "Oh, of course…well, its uh, its—" She muttered something incoherent, and James leaned forward.

"Huh?"

"I _said_ I'm a size seven. Okay?" She had turned very red, but James merely shrugged. He really had no idea what all the sizes meant, he just needed to know what number to look for.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, he had a pile of dresses for Lily to try on. She immediately went through and rejected three, but James shook his head.

"Nope, remember what Dumbledore said. It's my choice. Now go in there, then come out when you've tried one on so that I can see." He pointed to the dressing room. He followed her to the entrance, then sat on one of the sofas conveniently located next to it, sincerely hoping that it was more than twenty five feet to Lily's changing room so that he could go inside the dressing rooms. Alas, it was not, and he sat there for what seemed like an age waiting for Lily to get dressed.

Meanwhile, Lily was trying on the first dress. She decided to put on the slutty ones first, to get them out of the way. Also, she hoped that by the end, Potter wouldn't remember them, so he'd pick a nicer one.

She went outside in the dress, which was more a piece of cloth covering the bare essentials than a dress. She closed her eyes when she reached Potter, not wanting to see the lustful grin on his face.

She was, however, surprised at his reaction. "Yellow doesn't suit you, Evans, even though you do show a nice amount of cleavage int he dress," he said. Lily rolled her eyes. Yellow suited _no one_. Fortunately, Potter wasn't _too_ dense in the fashion area.

* * *

Five dresses and an hour and half later, both Lily and James were despairing of finding anything. In her dressing room, Lily picked up the last dress. It was a pretty black number, and when she put it on, felt wonderful. It wasn't _too_ low cut, and flared out at the bottom, coming to rest just past her knees. It hugged her curves wonderfully, and was very flattering.

Secretly, she hoped that James would pick this one.

She went outside, eyes open this time, and blushed when James looked up at her.

He couldn't believe it. How someone could look so gorgeous in something so simple, he couldn't fathom. He slowly raked his eyes from the bottom of the dress to the top, noting the way it made every wonderful part of her body stand out. Unfortunately, he felt himself getting red too, and found it a little harder to breathe than was normal.

"You-it-it's amazing," he finally managed to choke out, causing Lily's blush to spread to her chest.

"You think so?" she asked quietly, and James shook his head; she really didn't know just how beautiful she was.

Back in the dressing room, Lily slammed the door and leaned back against it, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. '_Dammit'_ she thought to herself, '_I am _not_ supposed to react to Potter like that. He's just an arrogant, bullying git.'_ Unfortunately, though, she couldn't get his face out of her mind. The way it had blushed, and the way he was so nervous. It was almost. _'NO! I do NOT find Potter attractive in any way!'_

As quickly as she could, she put on her regular clothes, picked up the black dress and went outside. She couldn't look at Potter for fear that he'd cause her to blush again, and that just wouldn't do.

* * *

It was a much simpler matter choosing a suit for James, who really couldn't care less what he wore, and the two were soon back at their London flat, ready to tackle the problem of the shower.

There was a place for it now, as Lily, guided by James, had managed to blast a hole in the wall of the bathroom, then make a makeshift sort of wall in the back. The only thing missing was the water.

"Maybe you'll just have to do like they did in the olden days," said Lily, frowning.

"And that is…?" asked James.

"Heat up some water and pour it on while having your shower. I could keep some going on the counter."

"Damn you and the fact that you're seventeen."

"Pleasure, thanks."

He glowered at her, then proceeded to strip off his shirt in the middle of the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" asked Lily, horrified. James shrugged, then turned towards her.

"I'm dirty, need a shower."

"Do men have any sense of discretion?" she asked, looking at James. She couldn't help but notice that he was quite toned and muscular, but quickly looked away when she realized that she was staring.

Suddenly, Lily felt a warm hand grip her wrist. She looked up, and into the warm hazel eyes of James Potter. His lopsided grin almost made her knees buckle, but she was determined not to find him attractive whatsoever.

"Does Lily Evans think I'm a man?" he teased.

Lily finally came to her senses and wrenched her hand away. "I've got to boil your water," she mumbled, going over to the cupboard and searching through for an acceptable pot or two.

"Fine by me."

For some reason, his nonchalant answer caused Lily to snap. She turned around, eyes blazing.

"Why can't you just be mature for once! Hitting on random girls is not the solution to world hunger."

James furrowed his brows, utterly confused. "World hunger? What's that got to do with my shower."

Lily growled in frustration, and threw the pot she was holding onto the ground, where it promptly snapped in two.

"That's what's the matter with you James Potter! You don't care about anything except your own happiness. Think about the rest of the world for once."

James just shrugged again, and leant down to strip his trousers off, when the wind came again.

Both Lily and James groaned, and this time it was James who reached out to grab the letter.

_Dear Mr. Potter and Miss Evans,_

_I am sorry to inform you that you have argued yet again. However, I am actually quite pleased at how long it took for you to argue a third time. Perhaps you are learning to live with each other? Unfortunately, you will now not be able to move 12 feet from one another. This is where it gets tough._

_Good luck with your dinner party tonight, and I hope to see you soon._

_Yours truly,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

* * *

**A/N:** Wow this was actually a pretty long chapter considering that it didn't take me long to write. It came to me pretty easily. Next chapter will be the dinner party and the assigning of the second task.

One note…it HAS been a while since I lived in England, so I went by the American dress size system…correct me if you're British and know better, and I'll fix it.

If you don't know the conversion from kilos to pounds, multiply the kilos by 2.2 and you'll get the pounds.

Please review!

Responses:

**Apotterlover: **Yep, poor them. But what's a good story without a little laughing at the characters' expenses?

**Nebulia:** Sigh I do take too long to update. A Slightly Different Turn is on my list. I hope to have another chapter for all of my other stories up by next week…I've started on all of them, just haven't finished.

**Sheyana**: Lol…those are great ideas…now to think how to incorporate them in the story…I especially like the Dream Date one grins evilly in reply to your evil grin

**DumDum: **Thanks!

**Xblackmoonx:** You're right, it should be interesting…and I am updating…

**Coco-pop**: Well, the dress part was fun to write…I suppose I could've gone into more detail about how terrible the dresses were that James picked out.

**Chaserchick4Sirius**: Why thank you! And I like your penname…lol

**Moonshine44:** I tried to make this chapter longer. Chapter two and three weren't that long at all…

**Elisisland:** Thanks for the compliment. And yes, I do try to have reasons for things, rather than the reason which so many use which is that the teachers want Lily and James to get together…totally ridiculous.

**LaBOBuren:** Oooh…I like your idea. Perfect.

**Alenor:** Yeah, I've read some brilliant time-turner stories in my day…

**Lady of Masbolle:** I love your idea! 'Specially since I know how hard that is. And I feel for you with that whole "carrying" the section thing…I have to do that too, since I'm better at reading music and sight singing than some of the other people. And you found out about the wand thing this chapter…I really have no idea when James' birthday is, but making him not be of age yet is fun…

**KraziKrysti**: Good idea…dunno how I'd incorporate it, but I'll think about it.

Thanks as always for all your great reviews!

Crystaltambaia


	5. Getting Closer

**We Have To What?**

**Chapter 5**

**Getting Closer**

**A/N**: Yes, yes. Other fics to do…but I know you all like this one, so don't complain. :) I don't really have anything interesting to say, so read on!

Responses are at end of chapter.

* * *

Lily stepped up to the door of the house, which actually appeared to be a set of flats. It was tall, made of brick, and slightly menacing. She supposed that was because it was dark and she was in an unfamiliar place.

She knocked sharply, and then turned around. "Potter!" she said exasperatedly, "come out from the bushes. I don't want to have to drag you in."

She heard some rustling and muttering, and a tall figure emerged from the bushes next to the porch.

"Yes, yes, alright." Lily was about to reply when the door opened. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw who it was.

"M-Mr. Minister!" she said, but that was all that she could get out.

"Hello," the Minister for Magic replied warmly, eyes crinkling in a smile.

"I-I…" she started, but couldn't finish.

James stepped up hurriedly, and stuck out his hand to the Minister, who shook it. "Mr. Potter," he said. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Minister. This is my wife, Lily. We've actually come up from Cornwall to holiday. London is a lovely place."

Lily watched James' little speech with horror and fascination. Horror because she _didn't_ want to be known as his _wife_, but fascination at his diplomacy and the way he smoothed everything over. No one would doubt that they were a newly wedded couple from Cornwall.

Suddenly, she felt a pull at her naval. It was suspiciously like the feeling of taking a portkey. She felt herself being pulled along, but no one was touching her.

'_Apparently,'_ she thought, _'the spell _does _work._'

The evening passed quietly, and she made small talk with the wives of the important men who had been invited for dinner by the Minister. Well, it was quiet until one particularly gossipy lady whom Lily disliked immensely, came up to her.

"Hello, darling," she drawled, drawing out the _ahh_ in _darling_ far too long for Lily's taste. Inwardly, she grimaced, but put on a smile.

"Hello Mrs. Park."

"Please, call me Patricia."

"Right. Patricia. Hello Patricia."

The woman laughed, a high, strident laugh, and then took Lily's hands in her slender, overly bejeweled ones.

"Darling Lily, we," and here she waved randomly about her, "the ladies and I, have noticed that you and your d_aaahh_ling husband," there was that awful word again, "have not touched each other all evening. Is it not customary that newly weds are still so much in love that the just _cannot_ keep their hands off each other."

Lily grimaced again, but unfortunately could not think of an excuse quickly enough to please the terrible Patricia Park.

Her luck seemed to go downhill from there, because, at that moment, James came up behind her and touched her on the shoulder.

She turned around and gave him a pleading glance, but he seemed to take no notice.

"Lily darling," there was that WORD again. Even James was using it! "The men are going into dinner with their wives."

She felt Mrs. Park jab her shoulder, nudging her closer to James. She stumbled on an unruly bit of carpet and fell into him. He grabbed her by the waist to stop them both from tumbling, and they both turned scarlet.

"There's a good girl," the lady said, "just take his hand and we'll go to dinner. It's customary, you know."

At this point, both Lily's hands were clenched in fists, and she refused to open them, clenching her eyes shut, wishing that it were all a dream.

She felt a warm finger stroking her hand, and she opened her eyes again, looking into the hazel gaze of James Potter. He leant down, and Lily swallowed, wondering what he was doing.

"Just ignore them," he whispered into her ear, sending strange shivers down her back. "do as they say, and we'll get through this together." Lily felt herself melting, fists unclenching.

James' hand slid into hers, and she felt herself burning up again. Suddenly, her temper snapped, and she whirled towards him.

"We don't have to listen to them," she whispered hotly. "What if I don't want to touch you?" James looked taken aback, and inwardly, Lily felt sorry for her words. Outwardly, however, she was still furious. "Next thing you know, they're going to make us…_kiss_ or something." She spat out the word as if it was vile to her, and turned away.

Everyone else had left for dinner, so the parlor was empty of people. She suddenly felt the familiar wind, and groaned. The letter came seconds later.

This time, neither bothered opening it. They couldn't move six feet from each other, half of the last amount. James grabbed it and stuffed it into his jacket angrily, and stuck his elbow out.

Lily was confused until she realized that he was offering his arm. She placed her had on it gingerly, and they both walked into the dining room.

They both spent dinner not saying a word to each other, but instead striking up conversations with the people on their other sides.

Lily talked to a fifty-something man who worked for the Department of Muggle Artifacts. He was slightly eccentric, but Lily enjoyed listening to his stories about things that witches and wizards had done to torture muggles.

On James' other side was a pretty blond young witch who was pregnant. During their conversations, they found out that they were related, somehow or other. James found it difficult to hide the fact that he wasn't from Cornwall.

As the end of the dessert course neared, the Minister cleared his throat at the head of the table, and everyone looked towards him.

"We will now be going to the drawing room to play some charades." There was some applause, and one by one, everyone left. Once again, James and Lily were the last ones left. Lily childishly stuck her tongue out at James, and flounced out of the room.

Unfortunately for Lily and James, it seemed that the "prize" for winning was to kiss your spouse. First on the cheek, then a peck, then a nice long kiss, then you were shut in a closet for five minutes.

The first couple to win four times, and subsequently, the first one to be shut in the closet was the couple with the pretty blond pregnant girl. She seemed shy, and a blush covered her face when they first went in the closet. When they came out, she was pleasantly flustered, and the rest of the room applauded.

For a while, no one noticed that Lily and James were trying desperately not to win. Alas, it was not to last. The annoying, pushy and gossipy Mrs. Patricia Park finally saw that they were the last couple not to have kissed at all.

"Oy, you two! Are you really that bad at this game? It's not rocket science you know." James was confused at her wording, but Lily blushed next to him. "You look like two cardboard boxes next to each other, not even touching. I thought you said you were newlyweds."

"W-we…" Lily began, but once again could not think of a suitable excuse. She vowed to spend the next three weeks coming up with suitable excuses to every possible scenario she could possibly encounter.

"We'll win once," said James. Lily started to protest, but James put his hand on her mouth. "If it will get them to shut up, be happy about it." Lily nodded, and James dropped his hand. Lily's mouth felt oddly warm from his hand, and empty without it. She felt herself wishing that he could touch her again, but before the thought could progress, Mrs. Park stood up and started a charade.

It was so obvious from the beginning that Lily wanted to shout it out, but she hoped that she could prolong her reprieve from being kissed, even if it was only on the cheek.

Mrs. Park was having none of that though, and neither were the other guests. They also knew what it was, but turned to Lily and James expectantly. James turned to Lily with a questioning glance, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"It's a tree," she said, hoping earnestly that somehow that was _not_ the right answer. It was not to be so. Mrs. Park nodded and the other guests applauded.

Lily found her face being turned, and James kissed her cheek with unnecessary flourish, causing the other guests to laugh. Lily turned bright red and briefly touched the place where James had kissed her, a little in shock.

James noticed and took Lily by the arm, standing up. "I'm afraid my wife is not feeling well, but thank you for the lovely evening, and I hope to be seeing some of you again sometime." The other guests said their goodbyes, and soon Lily and James found themselves outside again.

Lily rounded on James as soon as they were out of earshot of the house. "Why did you go and do that Potter!" she whispered heatedly. "Couldn't you think of _some_ excuse?"

"What's the harm in a little peck on the cheek?" he asked, brows furrowed angrily. "They would have asked questions if we'd have refused."

"Well, you should have let them ask questions!" she exclaimed, but she knew she was being totally unreasonable.

"Maybe you actually enjoyed it," James retorted, and Lily gasped, hand flying to her mouth, "and you didn't want anyone to know."

"No!"

"Maybe you actually wanted to go further. _Mabye,_" he said, whispering now, somehow holding Lily around the waist and staring into her eyes, "you _wanted _to be in that closet."

Lily shook her head adamantly and squeezed her eyes shut. She knew she was being childish, but James was scaring her. She shouldn't be feeling all these things for him, but she was, and it scared her.

James was still holding her, and both their breathing was erratic. Lily slowly opened her eyes to find James still staring at her intently.

She wasn't sure afterwards if either of them had moved in to kiss the other or not, but she was sure that she was ready to kill the large lorry backing into the end of the street.

The two teenagers jumped apart like startled rabbits, and James cleared his throat. A slight breeze picked up, and another letter appeared. Lily and James groaned simultaneously, both having forgotten that they had argued.

"It's going to be three feet now," Lily whispered, not quite sure she trusted her voice yet.

"Yeah," said James. "Well, come on, we better get going home."

_Home._

For some reason, Lily liked the sound of that.

* * *

When they got home, however, Lily was not quite so happy.

"You are not sleeping in my bed!" she protested adamantly.

"The bed is more than three feet high! I can't sleep on the floor next to you!"

"Yes you can!"

"Evans! You're being ridiculous!"

"No I'm not!"

James just rolled his eyes and walked over to what was to become his side of the bed. Forgetting the three foot rule, Lily was dragged behind him for several steps before she could regain her balance. She could tell that it was all that James could do not to laugh.

"I have to get dressed first!" she said.

"Well, if I stand outside the door to the loo, that doesn't give you much maneuvering room. I'll just turn around."

"You-I…" Lily protested, but then realized that he was right. "No looking," she said.

"I wouldn't dream of it," he replied arrogantly.

Lily dressed quickly, very well aware of the tall presence standing behind her. If she took one misstep, she could touch him with her bare…something.

Lily crawled into bed first, facing away from James.

"No touching," she said.

* * *

Much to her dismay, as she woke up, Lily found that she had broken her own rule. She was lying face down with her left arm across Potter's bare chest. He was still asleep, so she quickly removed her hands and jumped out of bed.

Well, she tried to jump out of bed at least. James was jerked up by the movement.

"What is it?" he said groggily, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

"Sorry," Lily said sheepishly. "I forgot about the rule."

"'s no problem," he replied, speech still slurred.

Later that morning when both completed the morning rituals which were much more difficult with a limited range of motion, the familiar wind blew. Lily frowned.

"We didn't argue!"

"Maybe it's not for that," James replied, and took the letter and opened it.

_Dear Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans,_

_Congratulations on finishing the first task with flying colors! Your distance restrictions have been lifted. Unfortunately, it's not over yet! Your next task will be slightly different._

_I have sent, along with this letter, a vial of Polyjuice Potion. Your job is to assume the guise of each other for one day. (The make up of the Potion has been altered to make it good for twenty four hours, and not just one.) Have fun and go shopping in Diagon Alley. Make sure to meet up with your friends!"_

_Yours truly,_

_Albus Dumbledore._

* * *

A/N: Wow, longest chapter yet! I'm proud of myself.

Review Replies:

Lady of Mabolle: Eew…yuck…no romantic duets. Worry not! Lily might take a shower next chapter, as she has become James. That should be interesting.

Sheyana: Never fear, I'll be using your idea soon.

Alenor: Sorry about the feet/metres thing. I'm pretty sure I also used feet over there. But as a translation, three feet is approx. a meter, six feet is the height of the average man (about 180 cm). You can probably figure out the rest from there.

Tamsididi: Yeah, the not being able to move part was fun. Unfortunately, it has to be over. Maybe I'll reinstate it sometime. I'll be glad to take a peek at your story…as soon as I find time! Lol

Coco-Pop: yeah, I liked the shopping scene, even though sometimes I find scenes like that sort of boring.

A Potter Lover: See? I'm updating soon…

Queen-Guinevere-Gwyn: Sorry I couldn't make you remember…but the problem was that there was no shower, just a toilet, and James is obsessed with his appearances, so wants a full accommodating bathroom. Lol…

Chaserchick4sirius: Thanks! Hope you liked this one too!

LaBOBuren: Lol…I wont…he's too gentlemanly for that.

Man eating plant: Thanks! I didn't think it was so original myself, but apparently, it is.

ChristinaMarie15: Thanks! And for future reference, it's spelled hilarious. Maybe that'll help :P

Kittenlover2: Yep, they will. Thanks for your review.

The-power-of-love: I'm updating!

Please review!


	6. Polyjuice Potion

**We Have to What?**

**Chapter 5**

**Polyjuice Potion**

**A/N**: OMG! Time flies fast. And don't worry, I don't write, or speak, like that (the OMG part), like ever. When I looked when I last updated and it was in APRIL! I got mad at myself. You guys deserve another chapter… The reviews were great once again, but I don't think I can respond this time…Next chapter, perhaps. Oh, but to clear things up: Lily and James did NOT kiss. When I read it again, I realized it wasn't that clear, and some reviewers had questions. Also, for plot's sake, the length of the Polyjuice Potion has been changed from 24-hours to 12-hours.

* * *

Lily and James were standing together in the kitchen of their flat, both absolutely silent. Finally, Lily broke it. 

"You mean, I have to _be_ you?" James nodded in the affirmative. "With all the…_parts_… and everything?" He nodded once again, but at least had the discretion to redden slightly at Lily's words.

"Why you?" she moaned, and James frowned, confused.

"Why not me?"

"Why did you have to be Head Boy?"

Once again, James was confused. "We're back to that?"

At that, Lily seemed to come out of the slight stupor that she had been in, and looked over at James, who was leaning on the table top.

"Oh," she said, "it's nothing." James shrugged and moved towards the fridge. He took out a frozen pizza, and moved to put it in the microwave.

"What are you doing?" Lily asked. James turned around to stare at her. Why was she acting so weirdly this morning?

"Eating a pizza?" he said slowly.

"If I have to," and here she paused, "_be_ you for today, I do _not_ want the taste of that disgusting _thing_ in my mouth all day."

"Are you calling my pizza disgusting?" James asked, acting highly affronted, when in fact he was just amused.

"I am," said Lily. She could feel her temper heating up, perhaps because of James' absolute calm in the face of Lily's temper.

When it seemed that the argument was over, James turned to put the pizza in the microwave once again. However, Lily was having none of that. She marched over to James, carrying the vial of Polyjuice Potion in one hand.

"If we're going to do this," she began, "we're going to have to lay done some ground rules."

James nodded, looking at the girl with the firy red hair and the temper to match with an amused expression.

"First," she said, raising a finger, "NO looking."

"Aw, bloody hell Lily, I was planning on doing just that as soon as you had your back turned," James said sarcastically. Lily just glared at him, then continued.

"Second," she said, raising a second finger, "no _inappropriate_ touching."

"Wouldn't dream of it. Although, I think you'll have a tough time keeping your hands off my body."

"Oh, gross!" she said, squeezing her eyes together, trying to shut out the image from her mind.

"And I think that I should have a say in the rules too. After all, it is _my_ body that you are going to assume."

"What! I—Oh, well alright," Lily conceded.

"When you meet my friends…_try_ to be at least a little normal?"

"I can be normal!" Lily protested, but then fell silent. She had to admit that she was out of her league with James' friends. They were even sometimes a little intimidating.

"Next, we have to buy each other's school supplies. But nothing else. Got that?"

In response, Lily rolled her eyes, "Right. What about lunch? I'm not having you gorge out on my money!"

"We can just swap lunch money. I'll have mine, and you have yours," he paused again, "who _are_ you friends anyway?"

Lily got up and swatted him angrily.

"Hey!" he protested, "I really don't know."

"You'll find out," she said darkly, turning away from him, still clutching the vial of potion in one hand. Suddenly, she felt an arm grab at her wrist.

"Watch out!" she said angrily, but she shut up when she was pushed against the table by James. "What are you doing?"

"Tell me who your friends are," he growled.

Lily swallowed and closed her eyes, wishing herself anywhere but where she currently was. The feel of James' body pressed against her own was just a little too comfortable for her taste, and for some reason, she was breathing slightly faster. She told herself it was because she was afraid. Of what, she didn't know. She got her resolve up, and turned to face James, who was staring at her intently.

"No."

James leaned towards her, and for one terrifying second, Lily thought that he was going to kiss her. She was prepared to swat. Instead, he whispered in her ear, "Very well," and snatched the Polyjuice Potion from her hand, and pushed himself away.

Lily stood where she was for a moment, breathing hard. As she calmed her racing heart, she tried to brush away the insistent voices in her head that were telling her that she had enjoyed the exhilarating encounter, and instead shouted to James, who had gone into the bedroom.

"Potter! I need that bloody potion too! Hand it over!"

The door opened, and out walked a girl with red hair. Lily's eyes went wide at the grin on the James-Lily's face, and she opened her mouth to speak. Lost for words, she shut it again. James'…no, Lily's face grinned wider, and she twirled around.

"I must say," he said while turning, "You're a lot shorter than I thought."

"Hey!" she said, but then remembered something, "Where did you get a piece of me to put in the potion?"

"Easy," James said, "you shed like a dog. There was a ton of hair on the pillow."

Lily tried to ignore the fact that James was just as exasperating as Lily as he was as James, and took a deep breath, calming her anger. She opened her eyes, face lucid. "Is there something of you that I can put in my potion?"

"Let me think…" said James, "Oh yeah, I trimmed my toenails the other night. There should still be some clippings in the rubbish."

Lily made a face of utter disgust. "I am NOT using your clippings. I'll wager there's some hair on your pillow."

"I was just teasing you. I have some hair right here." James held up a short black hair, and Lily snatched it out of his hand, and the potion from the other hand. She ran into her bedroom and quickly swallowed the potion down, trying not to make a face.

For a few seconds, nothing seemed to happen. But, as she looked at her hands in wonder, she could see them bubbling up, growing larger. She felt herself growing taller, and she felt the tightness of her pajama shirt on the broader chest of James.

Quickly, before the shirt ripped, she took it off, and ran into James' room. She reached into the wardrobe for some sort of cover up, and pulled out a black tee and red button up shirt. She raised her eyebrows slightly at some of the clothes he had, but put on the two shirts.

"Like what you see?" asked a voice from the door. Lily started and turned around, to find James watching her with amusement. She then realized that James was fully dressed – in _Lily's_ clothes. In a short skirt and halter top no less. She hadn't even meant to bring the skirt, it was so whorish in her mind.

"How—you went through my things!" she said vehemently.

James shrugged. "That wasn't one of the rules. Plus, I have to look hot for you today."

"What! No!" Lily said, trying to get images out of her mind of James thinking she looked hot. Then Lily realized that she was still wearing her pajama bottoms. They looked utterly ridiculous on James' longer legs. "Uh, I have to change my, uh, trousers. So could you, um, go away?" she asked. James grinned.

"Nothing I haven't seen before, love."

Lily sighed in exasperation, and James laughed, turning around. Before he shut the door, he said, "hope you like it," and left. Lily wondered what he meant while she stripped off the pajama bottoms. Then she realized. She reached over to James' clothes and got some black jeans and boxers.

She closed her eyes tightly for the next tasks, and she was done soon. She was incredibly relieved that she hadn't –_ glimpsed_ something.

Retrieving James money from the top of the wardrobe, and stuffing it in the pocket of the jeans, she went out the bedroom door. She was ready for whatever the day would bring her.

* * *

**A/N**: Yay, another chapter. Albeit a little shorter than I would have hoped. No worries, I have the entire next chapter totally planned out. Please review! 

-Crystaltambaia


	7. Diagon Alley Maneuvering

**We Have to What?**

**Chapter Seven**

**Diagon Alley Maneuvering**

**Summary: **Lily and James are told by Dumbledore that in order to be Head Boy and Girl in their seventh year at Hogwarts, they have to learn to live together! In a two room flat! Chaos ensues…

**So Far: **Lily and James move in together, and must complete several tasks before going to Hogwarts as Head students together. They go to a dinner party where they take part in charades, all the while being punished if they argue. These are lifted, and the two are required to take a 12-hour polyjuice potion to switch places. They are then instructed to go to Diagon Alley to fetch their stuff for school. To note, Lily is Lily in James' body, and vice versa. And so beginneth the chapter…

**Rated: PG-13** for sexuality. Some language, but that would probably be mostly PG language. No violence as of yet.

**Disclaimer: **I feel kind of guilty that I never put one up, so here it is. I don't own anything you recognize. I do own Podis Bagmore (mentioned in Ch.1)

* * *

When Lily had finally stepped out of James' bedroom, the two Heads were on their way to Diagon Alley, having decided to take the train.

They spoke very little, but it was a comfortable silence. Lily was reading a gossip magazine she had procured from one of the vendors at the subway station, earning many a strange look from middle-aged women wondering why a teenaged boy was reading _Glamour._ All Lily could do was grin at herself. Let them wonder, she said.

James, completing the strange disguise, was reading a football magazine, frequently looking up and asking absurd questions about the muggle sport, such as,

"Why would you want to kick a ball into a goal?" and,

"Flying is _much_ more fun than running. I don't know how they do it," and,

"Who cares if some ref hurt his ankle while in a mob of players angry at his foul call? Quidditch refs disappear and die all the time."

People were giving the petite redhead in a tank top and a miniskirt yelling loudly about the absurdness of football sideways glances, trying to pretend that they weren't listening.

James caught Lily's eye after an old lady was pretending not to stare at them, and leaned towards her. Shocked, Lily leaned back until she realized that James was just moving to whisper in her ear.

"See that old lady?" he asked, "Want to give her a show?"

Lily smiled and nodded. This would be fun.

She turned to James, not once thinking how weird it was to be stroking her own leg, and whispered in his ear.

"Old ladies have dirty minds."

James grinned and gave the tiniest of head bobs.

"Isn't it weird for you to have yourself touching you?" she asked. James smiled again, and turned closer to her.

In retrospect, Lily would wonder why she hadn't shied away from this show. She supposed it was because she told herself that it wasn't James she was touching, but herself. Which sort of made it better.

* * *

Getting off the train, the two were breathless with laughter.

"Did you see her face? I thought she was going to wet her trousers!" said James. Lily laughed again, tears streaming out of her eyes.

Suddenly, both calmed down, and silence transformed into an awkward one. Neither really knew what to say, or do for that matter.

Luckily, the two were interrupted by a sudden shout.

"JAMES!" A large lump of something barreled straight into Lily's side. Lily, who was completely unprepared promptly fell down in the middle of the street. She heard a giggle and scowled up at James who was trying unsuccessfully to hide the wide smile on his face. Lily looked at who had knocked into her.

"Bl—Sirius!" she exclaimed. James, still looking down on them, winced at her near mistake.

"Oy mate! You've disappeared off the face of the earth since old Dumbledore sent you to live with Evans. Where is she anyway.?" Lily raised her face to the figure of herself looking down on the two friends. Sirius followed the gaze and started, then whistled softly,

"Wow Evans. When'd you get so damn sexy?"

James smiled flirtatiously at Sirius, while Lily sat on the ground scowling. Black should know her better than that. Granted, she had never really talked to him, but she didn't exactly wear clothes like that on a day to day basis.

"C'mon Sirius," Lily finally grunted, lurching to her feet, "Let's go school shopping."

Sirius turned back to James, who was standing a few feet away from them.

"What about Evans?" he said in a stage whisper, trying to be secretive but failing miserably. After a pining look from James, Lily sighed.

"She can come with us until she finds her friends."

Sirius looked between the two, "Why so solemn-looking James mate, you've only been in love with Evans for, like, ever." Both Lily and James turned red, and Lily noted that she looked extremely flushed when embarrassed. Sirius looked again between the two, noting to himself that they were _both_ blushing. Which could mean something. Also, they weren't fighting so far. Also a good sign in Operation Get Lily and James Together, or, simply put, Operation Sexy Beast.

* * *

Two hours later, the three were sitting at Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlor laughing at a joke Sirius had just told.

"So, then I said 'I haven't seen any flying pink elephants! I don't know what you're talking about!'"

They roared in laughter, and Sirius dribbled some ice cream down his chin, naturally causing all three of them to laugh even harder.

When the had eventually calmed down, Sirius turned to Lily, "You know, I'm sort of glad that your mates didn't make it today, Evans. No offense, but I always thought you were more of a tight-ass than you really are."

Lily fumed, "I am no—OW!" she cried, hit by a large stiletto heel. James was glaring at her, and Lily noted that she looked sort of sexy when glaring. Then she remembered why _she_ was mad, and said, "I have to go to the loo."

She stood up and made it halfway there when she was stopped by James.

"What were you doing in there?" he hissed angrily, "You almost gave away our cover!"

"I forgot, okay!"

"Since when does Lily the tight-ass ever forget anything?"

"I do to forget—argh! James! You are a little, very annoying, red-headed female git right now!"

James just smiled, "Ah, but remember that that red-headed female git is you to everyone else in the room."

Lily just glared, then marched back to her seat. Sirius was sitting there smiling, his arms folded across his chest.

"Lover's spat?" he asked, ignoring the waves of hate being sent to him by the two other teenagers.

"I'll have you know," said James, sitting up, "that I get in plenty of trouble."

"Oh yeah," retorted Lily, "tell me about it," daring him to say something.

James just smiled smugly back at her, "Well, there was this one time, when I thought no one was looking, that I snuck out of Hogwarts at night to go clubbing in London. I stayed the weekend there. I told Dumbledore, when he asked where I had been, that I had been visiting a sick relative."

Lily gasped in horror. How did James know about that?

"Another time, I went into the forbidden forest at a full moon to see if I could find a werewolf, but I was chased away by a frightening stag with a huge head of beautiful antlers."

By this time, Sirius, who was no dummy, although people often thought he was, was catching on to James.

"Hey Evans, can I talk to you for a second, alone?"

James glanced at Lily, who had panic in her eyes, then grinned at Sirius.

"Sure, mate!" The two shared a glance, and then it was unnecessary for Sirius to talk to James alone.

"How did you do it?" he whispered, this time actually quietly.

"We can't tell you," Lily said. But at the same time,

"Dumbledore made us."

Lily rolled her eyes and sunk down in her chair angrily. If he was going to blow the cover, fine, but she was not going to take any of the blame for it.

* * *

Around five o clock that afternoon, Lily and James finally began speaking again, and by the time it was dark and they were almost home, around ten at night, they were bantering playfully.

As they approached the house, however, the banter stopped. James turned to Lily, looking serious.

"Hey Lily. Don't get mad at me, but I was wondering if, maybe, it would be strange to, you know, hug yourself."

"Um…why do you ask that?"

By this time, they had arrived on the front step. James stopped and looked up at Lily.

"I just think it would be fun. Before we change back, to see what it's like."

Lily paused, but then looked thoughtful. "Okay then."

"Really?" And the amount of joy that was present on James' – well Lily's really – face when she said that confused Lily even more. Did James really like her?

But she could think about it anymore because James had moved forward. Lily suddenly moved towards him too, and they bumped elbows. Lily laughed nervously.

And then they were hugging. It wasn't romantic or intimate, because, well, it was frankly just weird to be hugging yourself. After a few seconds, Lily pulled back, but James hung on, then looked up at Lily with such a longing in his eyes that she moved down to give him a kiss on the lips.

A wind blew up around the two, and magic filled the air. Lily felt her body changing, but she couldn't leave James' lip. They were connected.

Then the wind died down. Lily froze. She wrenched her lips away from James and stared at him, shocked. She turned and ran back down the pathway. She wanted to be anywhere but near him.

"Lily!" she heard a call behind him, but she didn't stop running.

Finally, when she thought she was far enough away, she stopped, completely out of breath. She knew James wouldn't be able to catch her because he hadn't gotten his apparition license yet. She could, so she could go back whenever she wanted.

Sitting down on the wooden bench near her, she told herself that she would close her eyes for just a few minutes, but soon her head was filled with dreams, visions of a raven haired quidditch player filling her mind.

* * *

A/N: SORRY! I've just been so busy with school and stuff that I haven't even gone near any of my stories for months. And I've lost several of my computers, because they've died, that all had beginnings of this chapter in them. I suppose there's really no excuse though. If you still remember this story, please review!

Crystaltambaia


	8. Dancing in Circles

**We Have to What?**

**Chapter Eight**

**Dancing in Circles**

**Summary: **Lily and James are told by Dumbledore that in order to be Head Boy and Girl in their seventh year at Hogwarts, they have to learn to live together! In a two room flat! Chaos ensues…

**So Far: **Lily and James move in together, and must complete several tasks before going to Hogwarts as Head students together. They go to a dinner party where they take part in charades, all the while being punished if they argue. These are lifted, and the two are required to take a 12-hour polyjuice potion to switch places. They are then instructed to go to Diagon Alley to fetch their stuff for school. They meet up with Sirius, and after having a great day, just for fun they decide to kiss outside their door. They switch back in the middle and Lily runs off, going to sleep on a bus stop bench. So beginneth the chapter…

**Rated: PG-13** for sexuality. Some language, but that would probably be mostly PG language. No violence as of yet. Thischapter is especially PG-13.

**Disclaimer: **I feel kind of guilty that I never put one up, so here it is. I don't own anything you recognize. I do own Podis Bagmore (mentioned once in chapter one).

* * *

James had spent an agonizing night running all around London looking for Lily Evans, the bane of his existence. He had started really panicking around four in the morning, when he had finished checking if she had gone back to her house. 

It had taken a lot of persuading of her friends through owl correspondence to persuade them to give up her address, and while he was waiting, he had gone through most of London to look for her.

Or at least, it seemed like most of London.

He had careened through Diagon Alley, and persuaded a drunken cabbie to drive him to King's Cross. She wasn't on platform 9 ¾, or at The Leaky Cauldron. Diagon Alley was actually quite scary at night, with all the shops closed. He went through Knockturn Alley, on the off chance Lily would have hidden there to escape him.

He had gone through several parks, knowing from his Lily-obsessed fifth-year days that she loved nature.

When he had finally received the address from Marlene McKinnon, a friend of Lily's who had graduated the year before and was now in the middle of auror training, he had flown on his broomstick for half an hour to the middle of Surrey, only to find that her parents weren't the nicest people when woken up in the middle of the night. He had been driven off the property by several angry-looking dogs.

He was back in London now, and dawn was coming over the rooftops, a cool, beautiful dawn that didn't know that a girl was missing. And James was despairing of ever finding the vibrant red-headed beauty with a temper to match the hair. Her face swam in his mind, red lips and green eyes against her pale skin, with a light dusting of freckles that no one knew was there unless they really looked.

Finally, he hung his head. There was no choice but to go back to flat and contact Dumbledore. Dumbledore would be disappointed, and probably take away his Head Boy-ship, but right now, he was more interested in saving Lily's life.

He was actually closer to the flat than he had thought, so it didn't take him much time to reach it.

He ran up, rang the doorbell, and waited for five seconds before he remembered that Lily wasn't there to answer it, opened the door, ran upstairs to the flat, opened that door, and ran smack into Lily, falling on the floor in a mess of limbs.

He rubbed his head thoroughly for several seconds before realizing that there was someone else next to him.

His eyes widened as he saw the girl next to him on the floor, also rubbing her head. "W-what are you doing here?" he asked, rather stupidly, he thought.

Lily frowned at James, narrowing her green eyes at him untrustingly, "Why should you care? I don't have to answer to you."

"Evans!" James cried, exasperated, "I've just spent the entire night running around London and Surrey looking for you! Your friends didn't even know where you were. Where have you been?"

"Around," she shrugged, and then stood up. She brushed herself off, and James noticed that her skirt was slightly wet and dirty, and her top had a large grass stain on it. She walked over to the counter, and then turned back towards James. "Dumbledore sent us another letter." Picking it up, she threw it at James, who was still on the floor, looking at it in shock. "Well?" she said impatiently, "Open it. I'm waiting."

James gave a growl, glaring at her, then at the piece of parchment. It felt rough in his hands, and the neat loopy handwriting at the front eased his thoughts. Dumbledore would never do anything to hurt them. Dumbledore could be trusted. His anger at Lily subsided, and he calmly tore open the envelope, taking out the rich parchment, and read.

_Dear Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans,_

_Congratulations for handling the polyjuice task admirably. _

_Your next task will be similar to, but not the same as, when you went to dinner. Tonight, you are going ballroom dancing! You will be going to the restaurant named on the card enclosed. It also functions as a dancing hall. Since it will be a public place, I expect you both to be on your best behavior. I hope you've been practicing! I have taken the liberty of inviting Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon to dinner with you. I trust you will inform them of just the details they must know. Enough muggle money to cover both yours and their dinners is enclosed as well. _

_Until then,_

_Yours,_

_Albus Dumbledore._

James looked in the rest of the envelope, where there were two fifty pound notes and a twenty pound note. 'How much money does he expect us to spend?' he wondered to himself, and then stood up. He handed Lily the note, and she glared at him, rather for no reason, James thought.

"What?" he asked.

She glared at him again. She couldn't possibly still be angry at him for bumping into her, he thought.

Lily _was _still angry at James, though at this point, she had no idea why. "I don't want to go dancing with you," she said, rather immaturely. She didn't even know why she was acting this way, but it was childish, even for her.

"Oh, grow up, Lily," said James, echoing her thoughts.

But she would never admit that.

"I am grown up. It's you who's a child, James Potter," she paused, getting angrier by a moment. "I'm going to bed. I had a long night."

With that, she turned around and stalked towards her room, slamming the door. Or at least, that was what she would have done if James hadn't grabbed her elbow forcefully pushing her against the wall. Lily's eyes got wide as she saw the anger, hurt, and, for some reason, lust, in his eyes as he stared at her. Then she stared back at him, and both teenagers were silent for what seemed like years, both breathing hard, both refusing to back down.

"You are a _child_ James," Lily breathed, breaking the silence before it got worse. And taking her mind off the heat of his fingers pressed into her elbows.

Suddenly, Lily remembered last night. How amazing James had felt kissing her. Why she had run off. And she looked back up into the eyes of the boy looking at her.

"You will _never_ have me James."

"Who ever said I wanted you?" But James had moved forward slightly, speaking low in his voice, so that it was almost a growl, and Lily was feeling ever more breathless. Her cheeks had flared up, bright red, and she could feel it spreading down her neck. James had a slight grin on his face, sinister, yet inviting.

"You're not good enough for me, James," but her voice was quiet, breathy, not at all the yell she had intended.

He moved closer, and their noses were almost touching. Lily could hear his breath too, and her heart was beating against his fingers.

"I think that's why you like me," he said, and then his lips were on hers. She was surprised slightly, but she didn't think. She reacted, kissing him back with all of her soul. She wrapped her arms around his neck, threading her fingers through his messy black hair. Where their lips touched, fire threatened to consume them. James had his arm around her waist, and his fingers made her back tingle. He moved forwards, shoving her more forcefully against the wall, pressing his whole body against hers, and he opened his mouth, and she opened hers, and she gasped at this new sensation, this strange, beautiful sensation.

Suddenly, something clicked, and Lily's brain unfroze. She wrenched her lips away from James', pushing him away. He stumbled away, and she looked at him with shock on her face, then anger.

"I-I have to go," she stuttered, and ran to the bedrooms, slamming the door so that the whole flat shook.

James was left standing rooted the spot, staring at the shaking door.

* * *

"Lily, get out of the room!" 

"No!"

"We have to go to dinner! Sirius and Marlene are expecting us."

"I don't care!"

"Dumbledore won't let us be Head Boy and Girl if we don't complete the tasks!"

There was a pause, and James leaned against the door hopefully.

"Fine!" Lily shouted, "You go there first. I'll come later."

James sighed. If that was the only way he was going to be able to go, he would agree, "Fine," he said, walking towards the table in the middle of the room, "but I need my suit!"

Silence again, but he could hear rustling in the corner of where his 'room' was. The door suddenly opened violently, and his clothes were thrown out in a large pile, and the door slammed closed once again, making James wince.

* * *

There was an awkward silence at the table between Lily and James as Marlene and Sirius tried to make strained conversation. 

"So, Marlene. You're in auror training now, I've heard."

"Er, yeah. And you? Still the slacker you always were?"

"Mmm-hmm."

And then no one else spoke. Lily glared at James subtly, and he was staring at the floor, counting dots, making shapes, and generally pretending he didn't see anything. A fast-paced song came on, and Sirius stood up, offering his hand to Marlene, and looking pointedly at James who looked up again.

"Care to have this dance?"

Marlene smiled and nodded, getting up gracefully and placing her palm in his. She did a little twirl, and James shifted uncomfortably in his seat. At this rate, they were never going to pass all of the tests that Dumbledore was setting them.

Lily wasn't paying attention anymore; she was taking her turn at making words out of the floor wood patterns. She looked up with surprise when, after a few minutes, an outstretched hand obscured her vision, and then frowned when she saw who it was.

"Dance with me, Lily." It wasn't a question, and when Lily looked into James' hazel eyes, she couldn't resist. She felt herself standing up silently, placing her warm hand into his cool one. She tried to distance herself from him, looking instead at Sirius and Marlene dancing enjoyably.

Then the song ended, and a slow, romantic one came one. Typical, thought Lily. But she didn't say anything. They reached the dance floor, and James turned towards Lily putting a hand gently on her waist. She bit back a gasp at the way her heart jumped when he touched her.

James held her possessively, and after a while, leaned towards her. Lily jumped away from him, breathing harder. He laughed, and she fumed.

"I was just leaning down to whisper to you," he said. She didn't say anything in return, instead turning her head away from him, refusing to look at the face of the boy in front of her.

James responded by tugging Lily gently so that she was forced to come closer to him, her chest touching his lightly. She felt her heart speed up, and her face redden, and she made the mistake of looking at him.

He was staring at her, smiling slightly, volumes of feelings projected by his eyes. And Lily realized in shock how nicely he was holding her. But she wasn't admitting anything. His hand on her waist traced light circles, and shivering slightly, she moved unconsciously closer to him.

"Don't try anything, Potter," she whispered. He just kept staring, and Lily felt more and more uncomfortable every second he looked at her.

"I won't try anything you wouldn't like," James said huskily, and somewhere deep down, Lily knew that was a terrible line, but the song was over, and she let him go quickly, stammering,

"I-I have to go to the bathroom."

* * *

A/N: Yay! New chapter. I hope everyone is happy with this one. I had fun writing it, and I hope you had fun reading it. Some of it didn't come out exactly the way I had imagined it in my head, but that's all the fun of writing, isn't it? I have the first scene of the next chapter all planned out, but it would be nice to have some more ridiculous task ideas. This one was sort of boring. Thanks! 

Crystaltambaia


	9. Repurcussions

**We Have to What?**

**Chapter 9**

**Repercussions**

**Summary: **Lily and James are told by Dumbledore that in order to be Head Boy and Girl in their seventh year at Hogwarts, they have to learn to live together! In a two room flat! Chaos ensues…

**So Far: **Lily and James move in together, and must complete several tasks before going to Hogwarts as Head students together. They go to a dinner party where they take part in charades, all the while being punished if they argue. These are lifted, and the two are required to take a 12-hour polyjuice potion to switch places. They are then instructed to go to Diagon Alley to fetch their stuff for school. They meet up with Sirius, and after having a great day, just for fun they decide to kiss outside their door. They switch back in the middle and Lily runs off, going to sleep on a bus stop bench. James spends hours searching for Lily, only to find her back at the flat. They can't control their anger, and instead kiss it off, and the chapter ends with them fighting, James urging Lily to realize her true feelings, and Lily not listening to him. So beginneth the chapter...

**Rated: PG-13** for sexuality. Some language, but that would probably be mostly PG language. No violence as of yet.

**Disclaimer: **I feel kind of guilty that I never put one up, so here it is. I don't own anything you recognize. I do own Podis Bagmore (mentioned once in chapter one).

* * *

Lily woke in the morning, bleary-eyed and half-conscious, and stumbled into the kitchen. She stopped in the doorway separating the two rooms when she saw James – Potter, looking up at her over a bowl of cheerios and the early edition of _The Daily Prophet_. The expression in his dark eyes was almost unfathomable, but he stared through her like she was so much plastic wrap. 

"W-what is it?" she stammered, her purpose to be forbidding.

"I just wanted to say you look smashing this morning."

"Don't say that!" Lily hissed darkly at him, storming forward.

"I was just being sarcastic," he murmured to the paper, shrugging and succeeding in making Lily even angrier than she already was.

"Why you self-involved wanker!" she sputtered, constraining her urge to hit him, and instead taking her anger out on her breakfast. She opened the cupboard, almost taking it off its hinges, and took down a bowl, slamming it on the table-top and closing the cupboard with such a forceful BANG that it almost came off its hinges.

"Careful now," James said rather impetuously, "you don't want the cereal to get angry."

Lily didn't say anything, instead seething to herself and looking only at her cereal while she ate it. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see James getting up, but didn't notice he was coming towards her until she could see his hand next to hers on the table-top. She yanked her hands away forcefully and leaned back on her chair, attempting to get as far away from the prat in front of her as possible.

"Get away from me!"

"No," James said, and put his hand gently on her shoulder. Or he would have, if Lily hadn't swatted it away.

"Don't touch me!" But James grasped the hand in his strong—and rather warm—grip, and placed it gently on her leg. His other hand came up to her hair and stroked it. Lily stilled, whether out of fright or anticipation, James didn't know.

When James' hand left her hair, it trailed down her neck to her shoulder, causing Lily to shiver involuntarily. His rough hands felt so delightfully, terrifyingly, horribly smooth against her pale skin. And then his fingers dug into her back, rubbing it, and she arched backwards, surprised at the fire he had lit beneath her skin.

"Feel good?" he whispered wickedly in her ear. Lily could not respond, and instead went limp, but still tense with anticipation. No matter what she was betraying by letting Potter do this to her, it just felt so _incredible._

His fingers dug deeper and deeper into her back, causing her to lift her head and moan. He found all the most sensitive spots, and played with them, molded them until they bent to his will. He moved her shirt aside and Lily's breathing became louder and shallower. He knew the effect this had on her. The freckles on her back stood out against the smooth whiteness of her skin, and against the darker, tanned roughness of James' hand. Her skin went red where James had rubbed it almost raw.

And it was torture for him too. Knowing she was only letting him do this because it felt so damn good, he took advantage of the prone Lily. The noises she made weren't for him, they were for what she was doing to him, but they made his heart beat faster. Every moan, every sharp intake of breath, he celebrated in because he was causing it.

James kneeled down on the floor and made Lily turn so that her back was facing him better, and his fingers went lower, pressing and rubbing, and causing Lily's bones to melt. Her back arched again as he reached her waste, and instead of continuing his journey down her back, he decided to take a chance.

He rested his warm hands on her bare waist, her shirt having ridden up so that it was exposed to him. Lily craned her neck around slightly at his pause, but she didn't stop him. He took it as an invitation to go forward. His hands slipped around her waist, resting on her belly, which was moving quickly in and out because of Lily's fast breathing. He grinned slightly to himself, and leaned upwards, his lips tickling her earlobe.

"Trust me," he said, and she shivered again, and this time James could feel it. No matter how much she tried to deny it, James did have an effect on her, and he knew it.

"Never," she whispered back. His lips lightly touched her skin at the meeting of neck and jawbone, and he trailed kisses down her neck. Lily's eyes closed, and she imagined that what she was feeling was anyone, any_thing_ but James Potter kissing her. How could she allow it? But how could she not, when it felt so good, so amazingly perfect.

His lips left her neck, and her body protested against it. But his finger came up to trail her jawline and she involuntarily turned towards him, eyes open, bright, and questioning. She opened her mouth to protest his movements.

"Sshhh," he said, and put his finger on her lips, closing them gently. Then he leaned forward, and Lily felt herself leaning forward, too, and suddenly she felt his lips against hers.

This kiss was nothing like the wild, passionate kiss they had shared yesterday. This one was almost gentle, but still charged, pushing, as if it knew that they both wanted something else, something different, something more. But as James pulled away from Lily, he saw tears streaking down her face.

"What is it?" he asked, shocked. But Lily just shook her head and turned away from James. She closed her eyes and hiccupped once, tears streaming down in torrents. He reached a thumb out to wipe some of the tears away, but she shrugged him away.

James knelt on the floor next to Lily, at a loss and helpless to do anything, but wanting to do everything for this girl—woman. Finally, James stood up. He was about to go fetch a cardigan for Lily, who had begun shivering for some unknown reason. But he was stopped by a faint whisper.

"What is it?" he asked Lily, turning back towards her and kneeling on the ground again, this time in front of her, and took both of her hands into his.

"I-I can't do this anymore," she whispered, barely audible over her sobs.

"Do what?" he asked, very confused.

"Be here, live here," she waved vaguely around, indicating the flat, "with you."

James' shoulders slumped. "But why?" he asked.

"I-I just can't. Please don't ask questions."

"Should we, I mean, should we contact Dumbledore? Tell him you're finished?" James let go of Lily's pale, cool hands and stood up.

Lily shrugged. "I guess."

Lily didn't seem to be offering to help with that, so James got out the packet of Floo Powder that Dumbledore had given them when he first sent them to the flat, and went to the miniscule fireplace in the back of the front room.

* * *

Five minutes later, he was in Dumbledore's office at Hogwarts. 

And it was empty.

Of course it would be, James thought to himself. Stupid. Why would Dumbledore be at school during a school holiday? He had to have a house of his own, one with family that he visited. Hadn't he mentioned a brother once? James turned around wildly several times, completely lost. How could he find out where Dumbledore lived? He took a few steps towards the desk in the middle of the office, then whirled around to the door.

And stopped when he saw who was in the doorway, half-moon glasses, little smile and all.

"Dumbledore!" James gasped.

"Mr. Potter," Dumbledore nodded.

"Dumbledore, I need your help! It's Lily! She wants to go home."

But instead of looking surprised, like James had thought he would, he just nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, yes, I thought she might. Could you tell me the circumstances leading up to this?"

James blushed. "Well, we were, er, talking, and um—"

But Dumbledore waved his hand. "It's no matter. I shall accompany you to the flat. You flooed here?" James nodded dumbly, and at his response, Dumbledore brushed impatiently by him to the fireplace. He turned around. "Well?" he asked. "Are you coming?"

* * *

And that was how James found himself,a few hourslater, trying not to eavesdrop through the thin walls of the flat, while Lily and Dumbledore "discussed" things. 

When the two had arrived at the flat, James saw that Lily hadn't budged an inch, except now she was staring blankly at the wall across the kitchen, mouthing undecipherable things. Dumbledore had swept over to her, and she had turned to him, sorrow still evident in her eyes. Dumbledore had said something that even James could not pick up, and she had nodded, and both of them had gone into the bedroom, leaving James to do as he would. Which, of course, would be trying to hear everything that they said. But then, he reasoned, he was trying to be more mature, more responsible. And didn't mature, responsible people refrain from eavesdropping, even if their curiosity was piqued to the utmost?

Yes, they did. But it was just so _difficult_.

The first hour had been the worst. Everytime he had stood up from his chair, he somehow managed to wander over to the walls separating him from the ability to satisfy his curiosity. But soon, he got tired. He picked up a spare magazine that Lily had brought to the flat: "_Glamour,_" and read through it. However, even though all the bikini models were _very_ fit, it wasn't enough to keep him from wondering just what was keeping Dumbedore and Lily Evans holed up in that abominable little room for so long.

After he had finished reading the magazine, his stomach knocked, reminding him that it hadn't had food in over two hours. But all he could find in the flat was some ham that smelt rather off to James, and the cereal. The cereal that reminded him of Lily. Of the kiss. Of the many kisses. Of all the girls he had ever kissed. And he had had rather more than his share of girls, some of whom were willing to go much farther with him than he was willing to go with them. Because, although he would never admit it to Lily, or anyone else besides Sirius and Remus, who already knew, he was still a virgin. Even Peter thought he wasn't, thanks to Sirius' twerp ofa cousin Regulus, and his other, less twerpy, more slutty cousin Bellatrix. But that was another story.

Lily, although James hated to admit it because it just sounded too cliche, was something different. He realised that he had had reason to have been in love with her for almost three whole years, from fourth to sixth year. She was an incredible girl. He hadn't really had time to sort out his feelings for her, but he knew they ran deep. And he knew it wasn't just for the chase, which Lily thought it was. Because yesterday and today? He had felt even more strongly for her, if that was possible. When she had cried, he had been close to tears himself, if only because he didn't know what was hurting his Lily so much. And it hurt that she wouldn't tell him. That, even after all she had seen of him, she still disliked him. Oh sure, the tension, the blatant sexuality was there, but it wasn't strong enough. It wasn't enough that Lily would cast off all of her old prejudices and just love her.

At that thought, the door opened, and Dumbledore held it for Lily, who glanced quickly at James with a mysterious emotion in her eyes before going quickly into the loo.

"What is it?" James asked. "What's happening?"

"You're going home," said Dumbledore.

.

* * *

A/N: I don't think words can express how sorry I am for the five month wait for this chapter, but I am truly sorry. I also know that you guys don't want excuses. You just want story. Anyway, here it is. Four and a half months too late. But here. I actually meant to put my one-shot up first, since that was almost finished, but I went away for the summer without uploading what I had so that I could finish it. So that will have to wait till August, but hopefully I can have several more chapters of my other fics up during that time.

I know you guys probably wanted this chapter to be longer, to make up for the wait, but I had to end it where it did. I wished it had more action, but I think James' thoughts werea necessary addition, and James isn't prone to just sitting and thinking very often.

Okay, I hope you enjoy, and please review!


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